


Harmless Fun

by honestgrins



Series: Bingo! [11]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, bingo: halloween, klaroween, klaroween bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 04:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16256846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: Klaus sits back to watch the festivities but doesn’t care to participate until a friend pops in. (For Klaroween Bingo: Halloween)





	Harmless Fun

Klaus roved a keen eye throughout the Abbatoir, always vigilant for the occasional attempted murder or an opportune snack. With the Halloween festivities well underway, the club was packed with scantily clad witches - both real and emulated. Taking a bite from even the most liberal of covens would have annoying consequences, so he remained in his booth with an excellent vantage point while nursing a scotch.

“You know, I thought our truce would help you relax a little,” Marcel teased, sliding into the seat across from him. A waitress hurried over with fresh drinks for them both, likely devoted to their service for the night. Klaus did so like being king, even if it meant sharing some influence with his once son. “This is a party, after all.”

Smirking, Klaus raised his glass in a toast. “Who says I’m not relaxed?”

Marcel nodded toward the dance floor in amusement. “The pretty ladies on the dance floor, to start,” he answered. “And your back is literally to the wall, even among friends.”

“A thousand years of surviving, Marcel. Good habits are hard to break.” Oddly enough, he did relax at the feel of stone at his back. “And these are your friends, as you well know. We might have achieved a peace of our own - that doesn’t mean they accept the terms or that I accept them.”

“Touché,” Marcel acknowledged, “but I think I did meet a friend of yours down by the bar. A pretty one, too.”

Klaus frowned, looking toward the crowd surrounding the bar. There were too many to pick out much in the way of obviously identifying features. “I’m not sure who you mean,” he admitted, distinctly uncomfortable to be at a disadvantage. “I haven’t kept much company lately. Not the sort I care to remember, anyway.”

“Charming, but you should really save the romance for Valentine’s Day.”

His eyes narrowed at the new, yet familiar voice. Peering just over the edge of the balcony, he saw her looking up at him with eyes narrowed and arms crossed. Klaus always did enjoy riling her up. “Hello, Caroline.” Without a second thought, he abandoned Marcel to the booth in favor of jumping down to where she stood. She didn’t even flinch at the sudden move, and his smile deepened the dimples in his cheeks. “Welcome to my city, love. To what do I owe this immense pleasure?”

Caroline’s gaze swept down his form, pouting. “You’re not wearing a costume. It’s Halloween,” she added when he seemed confused by her first reply. “Seriously, for someone so intent to sell me on visiting a party capital, you’re really phoning it in on the participation.”

“If this is your version of participation,” he flirted, tugging at one of her pigtails as he took in the blue gingham dress she wore right down to the ruby slipped, “then surely you know why I choose to be myself. Nothing simulates horror quite like the Original hybrid.”

Rolling her eyes, she pursed her lips in annoyance. “Been there, done that, moved onto the next big bad,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “But I was tired of the Elena-Salvatore drama and wanted a carefree holiday.”

He couldn’t help but to pinch his mouth in confusion, hating to even question his good luck. “So you came here?”

Caroline laughed, instantly assuaging his fear that she might disappear in a moment. “Well, a friend once promised to show me around. Art, music, a culture he preferred over the small town where we met.”

“A friend.” Klaus turned an aggrieved glare on Marcel, who watched them with interest from the balcony above. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that word in association with you.” He set a blinding smile onto Caroline, winking. “You wouldn’t happen to be from Mystic Falls, would you?”

Shrinking in on herself a bit, her expressive face fell into suspicion; Klaus always did appreciate her sense of self-preservation. “That’s an odd assumption to make.”

Marcel shrugged. “Not if you’d seen this man’s face when he came back from Virginia a few years back,” he replied, watching both their reactions carefully. Her eyebrows raised as she turned to Klaus, who just stared back with the hint of a restrained smile. “It reminds me of how he looks at you.”

“Thank you, Marcel,” Klaus bit out, mentally planning how he might get Caroline out safely if he were to kill the man outright among his still loyal followers. 

But Caroline slipped a hand into his, pulling him toward the dance floor. “I totally see your murder face coming out,” she teased. “I’d hate to get blood on my costume, so let’s dance instead.” Klaus’s eyes drifted to their joined hands, wondering at the ease with which she distracted him. Glancing back, he didn’t like that Marcel noted it as well. “Don’t worry, you can defend your tough image when I’m gone.”

He tugged her backward, twirling her once before settling his hands on her hips as she smiled up at him. “You just got here,” he pointed out. “It would be a shame to waste the trip to visit only one day.”

“I don’t know,” she sang, swaying to the slow beat of the music, her hand trailing up his arm to rest against the nape of his neck. “I came here to escape drama, and Marcel looks like a whole lot of drama.”

Brow furrowing, Klaus knew his eyes must have flashed gold from the satisfied gleam in her own. “You didn’t come here to see Marcel.”

She shook her head. “I just wanted some harmless Halloween fun.” Her pinky finger slid into the mess of necklaces he wore, stroking the sensitive skin just under his collar. “Care to help a friend out?”

Klaus flashed them from the club as she laughed and clutched his neck, sparing Marcel and his ilk not another glance. They were a problem that could wait until Caroline left - not that he intended for that to happen anytime soon. Or if it did, perhaps he could push to make her little trip a tradition, to be repeated year after year until she decided to see what New Orleans was like in the spring.

Mystic Falls never lacked for drama for her to flee, after all, and Klaus wasn’t above tempting her back at every opportunity. A happy Halloween seemed almost certain with Caroline in town.


End file.
